Quality of engagement for catalogues stands apart from other channels
New research from Roy Morgan exploring how Australians use catalogues in today’s crowded, digitally focused media landscape shows that they remain highly relevant - nearly a third (31%) of Australia’s 13,436,000 catalogue readers read catalogues cover-to-cover according to research conducted in the first quarter of 2019 (Jan-March).
Millennials are Australia’s leading catalogue readers numbering over 3.2 million
Analysing Australia’s 13.4 million catalogue readers by generation shows Millennials to be the largest readers of catalogues in Australia numbering over 3.2 million. Over 3.16 million Baby Boomers read catalogues and just under 3.16 million members of Generation X.
Generation Z is next with over 2.5 million catalogue readers while just on 1.4 million catalogue readers are part of the Pre-Boomers generation.
Australian catalogue readers by Generation – March quarter 2019
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), January – March 2019 n=3,454. Base: Australians 14+.\
New research show that catalogues remain relevant in the new media landscape
Australians love to share their catalogue finds with friends and family, revealing a secondary circulation
Catalogues don’t just reach those with the catalogue in hand – many people are sharing catalogues and sharing their finds ‘digitally,’ revealing that a secondary circulation of catalogues is occurring amongst Australian consumers.
Over a third of Australian catalogue readers (35%) have shared hard copy catalogues with friends, family or neighbours while 4 in 10 (41%) have shared catalogue ‘digitally’ by emailing or texting a picture of a product seen in a catalogue to a friend or family member.
Catalogues drive people in store and are considered the most useful form of advertising
The new research shows that catalogues play a significant role on the path to purchase by driving people in store and triggering high value unintended purchase.
Nearly half of catalogue readers (47%) have made a special trip to a store to buy a product after seeing it in a catalogue - which they otherwise would not have seen without reading the catalogue.
Catalogues trigger unintended purchase on high value items - 1-in-5 catalogue readers who spend over $1,000 on their most expensive catalogue purchase in an average six months purchased an item they were not intending to buy before they saw it advertised.
Additionally, more than half (53%) of catalogue readers find catalogues more useful than other forms of advertising.
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says:
“The latest research into Australia’s catalogue industry has uncovered that catalogues are still very relevant and remain a key channel to reach Australian consumers despite the proliferation of digital media in recent years. In fact a clear majority of 70% of Australia’s 13.4 million catalogue readers say that catalogues are a helpful shopping tool and over half (53%) find catalogues more useful than other forms of advertising.
“Catalogues are also a great way to entice people to consider purchasing items they may not have originally even been aware of. Nearly half of Australia’s catalogue readers (47%) have seen a product in a catalogue and then made a special trip to a store to buy the product which they otherwise would not have seen without reading the catalogue.
“This purchase trigger from reading catalogues isn’t just for Australians looking for bargains either. 1-in-5 catalogue readers who spend over $1,000 on a catalogue purchase in an average six months have purchased an item from a catalogue they were not intending to buy before they saw it advertised.
“Catalogue readers are avid consumers of content and close to a third read catalogues cover-to-cover and spend an average of six minutes reading catalogues. An added bonus for advertisers utilising the reach of catalogues is that over a third of catalogue readers share their catalogues with friends and families and over two-fifths have emailed or texted a picture of a product to a friend or family member.
“There’s little doubt that if you are looking for a way to reach hard-to-find and time-poor consumers that catalogues offer a direct route to the ‘eyeballs’ of over 13.4 million Australians.”
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Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
